When Chris Jericho started his current program with HOOK a couple weeks ago on AEW Dynamite, it brought back criticisms and jokes about the legend attaching himself to younger or hotter acts — ostensibly to glom on to their popularity.
During an appearance on the Gabby AF podcast, Jericho used a question about how he came to work with Taz’s son to address those criticisms. He mentioned how Kenny Omega’s illness forced them to improvise a wrap up to The Golden Jets’ feud with The Don Callis Family, and that his interactions with HOOK during Revolution’s All-Star Scramble match gave them an opportunity to start something together. Jericho said he’s thought about working with the 24 year old “for a while” and thinks they’ve “got some good ideas and some good stuff going on” (after tagging together on the most recent Dynamite, they’ll go one-on-one next Wednesday).
Then he said:
“That’s kind of what my mission in AEW has been since day one is to do the best I can to elevate the younger guys and in contrary to popular belief, which you might see, it usually works. Most of the time when people work with me, they end up on a higher platform than they were prior.
“If you look at Orange Cassidy to Darby Allin to MJF… [Powerhouse] Hobbs and [Konosuke] Takeshita and all those guys. The list goes on and on and on. Even the guys in The Inner Circle and the Jericho Appreciation Society. I mean, look at Dani [Daniel] Garcia now compared to where he was a year ago.
“So, I think HOOK is another guy we’ve done a lot with, I think we can do some more with and add some depth to him and give him a little bit more experience because you’re only as good as the guys that you’re in the ring with and if you look at HOOK vs. Samoa Joe, I think that’s probably the best match he’s ever had because Joe has such experience. I think with the experience that I have and then working with HOOK and his persona’s so unique and I think he’s lightning in a bottle, something that we can really get to the next level and that’s kind of what my idea is for this story.”
Regarding Garcia, Jericho addressed comments he’s seen about the 25 year old’s rise only coming after he “got away” from Le Champion. He also talked about his role in helping a pair of Garcia’s fellow Jericho Appreciation Society members raise their games:
“And that’s the thing when people are like, ‘Oh, Dani Garcia, once he got away from Jericho, he really started to blossom’ but it’s like, that’s where he kind of learned and got that confidence.
“When he first came into the Jericho Appreciation Society, I had those guys come in because the storyline worked. I didn’t know anything about any of them to be honest with you. [Angelo] Parker, [Matt] Menard and ‘Cool Hand Ang’, ‘Daddy Magic’. There was no Daddy Magic prior. It was Matt Menard. There was no Cool Hand Ang. It was Jeff Parker and the first thing I said was, ‘You guys gotta change your names…’ I said, ‘Who’s your favorite musical artist?’ And they said whoever it was. I said, ‘If you were going to an exclusive party hosted by this artist; it’s at the top of a penthouse, there’s gonna be Playboy models there, there’s gonna be influencers and celebrities. What would you wear? And I don’t care what that is. What would you wear to go to this top-level party? Because whatever it is, that’s what I want you to wear next week on TV’ and they all showed up with their various outfits and right away, they’re different guys.
“Dani’s a sports entertainer. When he said that he got heat, well, ‘I’ll try dancing.’ Dude, you need to entertain. Once again, great matches are important but character is everything. The dance put him into a completely different level. That wasn’t there before he was in Jericho Appreciation Society so, all of those things work to help build your persona and like I said, that’s something that I’m very proud of Dani for; what he’s able to do because he’s not the same performer he was two years ago when he first came into the JAS.”
Let us know what you makes of Jericho’s take on his track record of helping to make new stars for AEW in the comments below. You can listen to his entire conversation with Gabby LaSpisa here.
H/t Post Wrestling
You must be logged in to post a comment Login